Gun Belts and Concealed Carry

A good belt is not the same as a good gun belt.

If you’ve been carrying for very long, you’ve probably discovered that your belt can make or break your experience. The reason for this is simple: most belts aren’t stiff enough to hold the weight of a gun and holster, let alone the added weight of an extra magazine or two.

Over time (sometimes literally days), “normal” belts will begin to sag, crack, and generally wear out from the weight and stress of carrying guns, magazines, flashlights, etc. You can buy belt after belt after belt, or you can buy one good gun belt.

Options

There are many great gun belt options on the market, and in the coming weeks we will highlight several of them. But the important thing to remember is that a good belt does not make a good gun belt. You need a tool designed for the job.

What About You?

What gun belt(s) do you use? Which gun belts would you like us to review? What makes the perfect gun belt? Let us know in the comments below!

11 Responses to Gun Belts and Concealed Carry

I am a fan of AG Gunleather belts. I have three of them and couldn’t agree more with your assessment that the belt makes the rig work. Spend as much for a belt as a good holster and you will be so much happier and more comfortable carrying. I have one Ranger belt from Bianchi that I will likely donate to the thrift store now that I have these AG belts.

I run a Blade-Tech leather/kydex belt when in dress clothes. Supports my gun, mags, badge, etc quite well. When I’m in jeans or tactical gear, I run the Jones Tactical EDB belt or the Jones Tactical Fat Zombie Duty Belt. I wore all three of these belts for years prior to becoming a distributor for Blade-Tech and Jones Tactical. The only reason I wanted to sell their products was because of the positive experiences I had with them in the past.

I have a SOE Cobra Riggers belt that I love, an I also have a Blackhawk! riggers belt, the quality isn’t up to par with the SOE belt but it also cost me about a 1/4 of the SOE. If you’d be interested in my review on both let me know I can get it typed up and emailed off to you.

I had a 5.11 Operator belt for years, and while it was great for carrying and general pants-support, every time I loosened the thing the little center support rod on the D-shaped clasp would fall out. Eventually I just got tired of fishing it out of the john, and went with an Ares Gear Ranger Belt. Other than the fact that you have to take the clasp off and on every time you change pants (small complaints I know…), I love this belt and recommend it to pretty much everyone I meet.

The Wilderness instructor belt with the optional kydex stiffener. It holds my junk up and could double as a harness if I’ve ever need a helicopter extraction. Only downside is that it was pricy. I’ve got a black one, need to pick one up in coyote.

They also make a gun belt with polymer buckle for those who travel often.